Conventionally, in a small-sized stepping motor 60 as shown in FIG. 16(a), a terminal block 62 which is made of resin material and provided with a plurality of terminal pins 61 is mounted on an outer peripheral side of a stepping motor 60. Winding ends of coils 63 and 64 are wound and connected with the terminal pins 61.
A fitting aperture 62a is formed to open at a center of the terminal block 62. Holding parts 65b and 66b extended toward an outer peripheral side from flange parts 65a and 66a of stator cores 65 and 66 which are disposed on each other in a back to back manner are fitted into the fitting aperture 62a and, as a result, the terminal block 62 is fixed to the stator cores 65 and 66. FIG. 16(b) is a top plan view and FIG. 16(c) is a front view respectively showing the stator cores 65 and 66 in a state where the terminal block 62 is fixed to the stator cores 65 and 66 (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-280035).
Further, another conventional stepping motor is provided with a terminal block on its outer peripheral side and a plurality of terminal pins around which winding ends of a coil are wound is provided in the terminal block. The terminal pins are arranged side by side in a direction perpendicular to an output shaft of the stepping motor (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-102204).
However, in the former stepping motor, as shown in FIGS. 16(a) through 16(c), the terminal block 62 is structured so that it is fixed to the stator cores 65 and 66 only by fitting the terminal block 62 to the holding parts 65b and 66b which are formed in the flange parts 65a and 66a of the stator cores 65 and 66. Therefore, the terminal block 62 may be carelessly or easily inclined. In this case, for example, when a flexible circuit board is to be mounted on the terminal block 62 and the terminal pins 61 are connected to circuit patterns of the flexible circuit board, connecting work becomes difficult.
Further, in the latter stepping motor, as a diameter of the motor becomes smaller, a distance between the terminal pins becomes narrower. However, when the size of the terminal block is reduced as the size of the stepping motor is reduced, a nozzle of an automatic coil winding machine for winding a coil cannot pass through between the terminal pins and thus a winding end of the coil can not be wound around the terminal pin automatically. Therefore, since downsizing of the terminal block is not attained, the size of the stepping motor is not reduced.
Further, when a distance between the terminal pins becomes narrow, a land having a size required to apply solder cannot be formed on a power feeding circuit board (flexible circuit board) to which the terminal pins are connected.
In order to solve the problem, as shown in FIG. 17(a), it is conceivable that, when terminal pins 501a through 501d are disposed in two lines in a direction perpendicular to an output shaft X of a stepping motor 500, a desired distance can be secured between the terminal pins 501a through 501d. However, when this arrangement is employed, as shown in FIG. 17(b), a power feeding circuit board 510 connected with the terminal pins 501a through 501d is protruded toward a longitudinal direction of a motor main body part (stator) 502 (see the slanted line portion in FIG. 17(b)). Therefore, a space required to mount the stepping motor 500 becomes larger.